Zimbabwe media activists to remain in jail

HARARE, Zimbabwe 
Lawyers say three Zimbabwean media monitors will remain in jail for a second week after state prosecutors defied an order to free them on bail.

Defense attorney Kossam Ncube says the three were granted $50 bail by a court in the western town of Gwanda on Friday, but prosecutors invoked a draconian clause in the nation's criminal laws that suspends bail for seven days to allow them to appeal the order.

The monitors, who campaign for free expression in the media, were arrested Monday on accusations of holding an unauthorized political gathering. Their independent media group says they convened a civic education meeting on media and electoral freedoms that was not illegal.

Amnesty International had declared the three "prisoners of conscience" and demanded their immediate release.